Teen drowns near beach at Bluffers

A teenaged swimmer died after going under in Lake Ontario at
Bluffers Park yesterday afternoon despite frantic efforts by friends
and paramedics to save him.

The 16-year-old was bodysurfing
about 100 metres east of the park's supervised beach when he was
swamped by a wave, police said.

"He was out in about waist-deep
water, about 60 metres from the shore and the waves were about a metre
high," said Det. Alan Bell. "It was quite windy."

He said after
the youth went under, two friends in the water saw he was disoriented
and went to pull him to the surface, yelling to another friend on the
beach for help. Together, they began to pull the boy back to shore.

As they drew close, a city works crew heard their shouts and rushed to help carry the youth out.

"His sister was on the beach ... she ran to the lifeguards," said Bell.

A
lifeguard tried to revive the youth, then paramedics arrived to take
over, but there were no vital signs. He was pronounced dead at
Scarborough General Hospital.

A police officer said the young victim was in good health, hadn't been drinking and was simply overcome by the wave action.

"I
guess he was standing in the water and the wave went over his head and
he never came back up," Staff Sgt. William Sheaves said.

Det.
Bell said the friends had been having a day of casual summer fun. "They
had some chips and some pop before they went in ... they were only in
the water 20 minutes."

He said emotions were running high in the
victim's family. "It's a very religious family, in fact half the church
was at the hospital."

He said the victim's name was being withheld until the extended family had been notified.